DENVER ― Nikola Jokic claimed he didn’t care about profitable a 3rd consecutive regular-season MVP in 2022-23.
All all through the playoffs when he posted a statistical line within the field rating that had by no means been achieved in NBA historical past ― comparable to the primary 30-point, 20-rebound triple-double within the Finals ― Jokic downplayed it.
“It’s only a stat,” he stated. “I don’t care.”
The Denver Nuggets’ reserved however influential star wished to win the championship.
Dismissing particular person stats in favor of workforce success, Jokic stated, “My focus has by no means been these sorts of data or regardless of the media are placing on me. I am simply attempting to win a sport and simply play each sport. Go step-by-step and play each sport to win a sport, so simple as that.”
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He didn’t win the award he didn’t care about, however earned the accomplishment he wished.
Jokic is an NBA champion.
The Nuggets defeated the Miami Warmth, 94-89, in Recreation 5 on Monday, capturing the franchise’s first NBA title.
Regardless of his monotone pleas that he’s only a one participant, he’s way more than that. He’s among the many top-3 gamers within the league, and for his work in opposition to the Warmth, Jokic earned Finals MVP.
In 5 video games in opposition to the Warmth, Jokic averaged 30.2 factors, 14 rebounds and seven.2 assists. He completed the sequence with 28 factors, 16 rebounds and 4 assists in Recreation 5.
“The job is finished, we will go house now,” Jokic instructed ESPN after the Nuggets’ Recreation 5 win.
Nikola Jokic shows all-around sport in NBA Finals
The Warmth had minimal counters to Jokic’s gifted skillset. He beat Miami along with his scoring, rebounding, passing and protection.
∎ He had 27 factors, 14 assists and 10 rebounds in Recreation 1; 32 factors, 21 rebounds, 10 assists and two blocks in Recreation 3; and 23 factors, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, three steals and three blocks in Recreation 4.
∎ He’s the primary participant to common at the very least 30.0 factors, 14.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in an NBA Finals sequence.
∎ Jokic, 28, can be the primary participant to have at the very least 500 factors, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason, and he led all gamers in complete factors (600), rebounds (269) and assists (190) within the 2023 NBA Playoffs, changing into the primary participant to steer all three classes in a single postseason.
∎ Jokic is the 11th participant to win at the very least two regular-season NBA MVPs and one NBA Finals MVP.
∎ He’s the lowest-drafted participant to win the Finals MVP award, aside from Moses Malone who was not chosen within the draft.
From second-rounder from Serbia to NBA Finals MVP
Jokic added one other chapter to his exceptional story. Constructing a Corridor of Fame resume, Jokic was the 41st choose within the second spherical in 2014 ― the best second-round choose within the league historical past and the one modern-day second-rounder to win MVP.
From Sombor, Serbia, Jokic professes a love of household and horses and eschews fame and media appearances. “My journey, I do not assume it is that fascinating,” he stated, refusing to open up about his life story.
He got here to the NBA with potential. However issues existed: sluggish ft, can’t bounce, off form and obese. He was not a sure-fire, can’t-miss lottery choose.
Season by season, he dispelled these issues and emerged first as an All-Star, then All-NBA after which MVP winner in 2021 and 2022.
“It simply so occurs that the two-time MVP and a terrific participant in Nikola sort of embodies every little thing,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone stated. “When you have got a man that has had the success that Nikola has had, being your hardest employee and being as selfless as he’s and trusting as a lot as he does, nicely, that permits all people else to sort of fall in line.”
Jokic is an NBA champion and Finals MVP, simply the sixth worldwide participant to win the award, becoming a member of Hakeem Olajuwon, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Jokic shared a particular second along with his daughter Ognjena, who turns 2 in September. He held her on the stage arrange on the court docket because the Nuggets had been awarded the Larry O’Brien trophy and Jokic acquired the Invoice Russell Finals MVP award.
“Not simply daughter, my spouse (Natalija) who was with me since day one, even in Belgrade. … However they’re somebodies which are in my life,” Jokic stated. “It means quite a bit, and with out them I am not going to be right here 100%.”
At one level, he and his spouse shared a house with Jokic’s brothers, Strahinja and Nemanja, who reside a lot of the yr in Denver and are regulars at Nuggets video games.
“That was a circus,” Jokic stated.
Even in a championship celebration wherein he was probably the most celebrated participant, Jokic maintained perspective.
“We achieve our jobs, and we gained the entire thing,” he stated. “It is a tremendous feeling. However like I stated earlier than, it isn’t every little thing on this planet. OK, I gained it. OK, not I, we gained it.
“However I feel it isn’t crucial factor on this planet nonetheless. There’s a bunch of issues that I love to do. Most likely that is a standard factor. No one likes his job, or perhaps they do. They’re mendacity.”
